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| the longest word? |
| 01.24.05 (11:54 pm) [edit] |
what is the longest word? some say it is [b]supercalifragilisticex pialidocious[/b] meaning fantastic!
but some say (me too) [b]smiles[/b] :) is the longest word — after all, there is a mile between the first letter and the last.
hmm, i will have to get used to getting used to not seeing her so often, infact everyday...OMG this is a freak blog
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| HNY 2005 - GOA !!! |
| 01.10.05 (8:48 pm) [edit] |
HNY 2005!
before i write about all the joy in life, a thought for all the people who lost their lives in the tsunami catastrophe - i donated a little bit of money that i could and prayed.
ooh la la !! what a holiday season, the best ive had till now in my life - trips to munnar in kerala for christmas and goa for new years (both places ive always dreamt of going to).
it was an instant plan born on the christmas eve that took me and my folks to munnar and it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable one. there were no reservations and stuff, but a family friend helped and we had food and accommodation ready at a very nice place. thousands of acres of tea estates, meadows and greenery surrounded by forests again - this was a breathtaking experience. we saw the rare species - the nilgiri tahr, a kind of goat which is found only in the region. boating, sightseeing and lazing around in the tea estates added to the pleasure. the main places that we visited were echo point (where if you shout in groups, the echo is amazing), mattuppetty which hosts the indo-swiss cattle project, kundala which has a beautiful estate and dam with boating facilities, rajamalai (of the tahr). the drive to rajamalai at such dizzying and dangerous heights through winding roads surrounded by tea estates and forests was quite an adventure in itself. we of course did buy special tea sold by the tata tea plantations in munnar. it is called the kannan devan estate and makes you feel as if the tatas own the town.
the next was GOA! before even attempting to describe this awesome place, i request in earnest that each and every one of you if possible make a visit to goa yourselves - such is the charm and beauty of the place. ive never extended my stay in any location other than goa! its a place where people do only one thing and that is nothing :) time stands still here and people of many nationalities just lie down on the beaches, drink and enjoy life. this is not to say that its the only way to enjoy life - for those who have already raised eyebrows i suggest visiting goa once again. you will fall in love with the place.
a, b, c and me - four great friends started off on the evening of 29th december to Goa. we were like oooh finally we are on our way for the dream trip. and a dream trip it was too, what with almost a year of wishing. there was only wishing and no planning so we did not have confirmed accommodation in Goa, not that it mattered LOL after a late dinner at a roadside dhaba (read restaurant) we camped that night on a hillock in a place called sakhleshpur. it was about 2 am then. first time camping in the open for me and how i enjoyed it...thanks to a, his car and his enthu! b was my constant companion in all crime and c was just watching us go wilder and wilder with a feeling of amusement turning to horror and hopelessness...c'est la vie. talk about a single woman travelling with three madmen...and you get a picture of how it could have been the whole journey. the night sky (or early morning?) was clear and beautiful....with sooooooo many stars twinkling and the cold wind blowing. i was also almost scared to death seeing my own shadow move against a tree as i walked towards it - blame it on the moon. i always thought that 2k4 was a year when i took time off. if that were true, this was going to be the perfect end to it....well, almost perfect.
we woke up at 7 am the next morning (the first time i heard a crow so goddamn near me) and took pics of the car and the tent and the people. brrrrr...it was cold in the morning. i was just thanking the almighty for having been kind to have made this trip possible at last. mon dieu...la vie a belle! we then drove down from sakhleshpur and then stopped at a beautiful stream nearby leading to a waterfall. brushed our teeth, and took a light bath there. the cold water was so refreshing in the morning. the next stop was at a kamat restaurant for breakfast (we stopped at many of them during the trip - must say that they’ve done a good job at hospitality for travellers on the national highways of south india). i so missed d all the time.....really really! the vegetation kept changing on the way and by noon we reached udupi via mangalore. then a phone call from a's mom came informing that the government had posted a high alert on the shores of india following the tsunami catastrophe and that the death toll was humongous and ticking. we were in two minds - to goa or not to goa? anyway we decided to proceed to malpe beach off udupi for lunch and reached there by about 1 pm. discussions went on with a nice lunch at a great resort (wed been there nine months back) in malpe. we spoke to the manager and the local police authorities who had arrived there about the scare. we were told that people were being evacuated to about 5 km away from the shore. there was chaos and we were undecided except for the fact that we would not go back to bangalore. proceeding to the tourist information center in udupi, we enquired about various options like shimoga, humpi etc. after spending about two hours in this confusion, all four of us came to a unanimous decision - thats it, we will go to goa. if the beaches were off limit, we would go elsewhere, stay elsewhere and do something else but we will go to goa. following our hearts, we started off to karwar by about 4 pm and reached there by about 9:30 pm. it was the second last day of the year (for whatever reasons we celebrate new years) and we were closer to our dream destination by under a hundred kilometers. we checked into a really nice hotel where the charges for air conditioned accommodation was quite agreeable. all of us were really tired especially a after all the driving, and wanted to relax thoroughly. but not before the booze....and one hell of a party we had! the awesome foursome celebrated with beer, bacardi, smirnoff and mcdonald's much to the amusement of the restaurant staff who were kept awake until after midnight. c's feat of having gulped down 30ml of raw vodka along with cheers earned her the title vodka matha :-) amazing beds and the a/c ...we were asleep before we knew (and of course there was the pint of beer to keep me company through the night). one thing decided was that this trip if it happened, would be a no-holds-barred one and it looked like we were living up to the promise......
waking up with beer for a beverage - i lived this dream for three days starting this last day of 2005. all of us woke up late, had a lazy breakfast and checked out of the hotel by 2 in the afternoon. this was not before packing four pints of beer for the journey ahead (not to mention the chips and the works). the karwar beach was also a beautiful one and was even praised by rabindranath tagore himself. the beach is also called rabindranath beach in his honour. liquor so cheap, it was clear that we were nearing goa :-) we were listening to the ever-popular friendship song from the hindi film 'dil chahta hai' (this movie and the song which is the same as the movie title now almost symbolises goa too) all through that dream ride. a stop at a coffee joint and some chit-chat with the locals was a really nice experience which helped us understand how nice and sweet they were. little did we know that this was the last time for the next couple of days we could get coffee (nothing but beer and booze is available in the beaches of goa, a welcome realization for some - dont ask me whom !!). the countryside lined with coconut trees reminds you of kerala (if uve been there....well, im a native) and the view of the distant sea filled us with this amazing thrill. and finally by 5pm we were in goa! a short stop at the tourist office to get the map and other details about the paradise that we were in was worthwhile. b takes some more money at probably the last atm available before we hit the beaches and we were off. go...go...goa to the colva beach! the swimming trunk and the sleeveless t-shirt was my costume, and we ran on to the beach. i repeat, la vie a belle! bacardi breezers, feni (god knows if it was original or not) mixed with limca completed the fun. lying on the beach watching the sunset and sipping the breezer was well, i would imagine the next best thing to being in heaven. i strongly believe that we all live for better days, and was so sure i was right - i had lived for this good day! a and c suggested going to the next place (they say we were drunk, hell they were probably right...LOL, considering the fact that they had only the breezers) and were more than ready. i managed to call home and a lot of other people too and wish them a great new year that was coming after midnight - whoever my phone could reach from that beach on the west coast of india (wherever you go, our bill follows - not the network!) a and c packed some stuff and we were on our way to an unknown destination. actually we had to find out where to go, and we did after a bit of enquiry and detours - we reached the palolem beach. whatever chance took us there was great, and i will NOT FORGET this place for the rest of my life. this place fundamentally changed my views about having a holiday, the need for one and a lot more things. no description could do justice to the experience....it is better taken in by oneself. about to be new year's and we reached the portal to the beach - lo and behold! hundreds of people thronging la plage, fireworks and music. what a sight...it was simply merveilleux !! accompanied by another pint of beer, me and b were separated from a and c who had gone searching for acco. we welcomed the new year in by watching the fireworks and the people. while searching for them, we ended up chatting with this british couple for some time (in fact, i dont know what time because from day 1 in goa i did not wear my watch, and believe me there time stands still). that was quite an interesting conversation. after sometime we found them and realised that they were doing the same thing all the while - searching for us :) then b wanted dinner and that took me and him to THE SUNSET bar and restaurant which was to be our home away from home for the next two days. this was a night out - we got the last thing left - some sandwich. after which we sat on comfortable chairs and watched the night leave and the dawn of the new year arrive. the stars blurring and the sun rising behind us with the beautiful beach before me was just too much. im no wordsworth but now i do understand what spontaneous outflow of powerful emotions mean! for the first time in life, i had spent a whole night on the beach....and almost awake through the whole of it...though dozing off at times. hereusement, i spent the next 30 hours there too, on the very same palolem beach.
on the first of the year, i again woke up drinking beer (also because a 30 minute-walk did not give us any coffee or tea simply for the reason that no one drinks them there!). the morning in the beach was so refreshing and cool that it took away the last speck of sleep left. after all, we were living our dreams and where does sleep come into the picture?! by about 8 am we walk into a beachside store, just as the owner was opening it. he welcomed us warmly and informed us that we were his first customers for the year and that we were eligible for special rates. i got a sarong and a t-shirt, a top for my sis too. b got a t-shirt and bermudas that rocked! i was in my sarong and b in his new stuff from then till we came back home. all this at a fabulous price, and then we met a and c. we got fresh at a nearby lodge and made friends with them too. went for breakfast at the sunset and it was a nice start to a great day and hopefully to a great year...insha allah !! what was awaiting me there was the french connection - martine and jaunne - a french mother and her sweet daughter on vacation in goa. i said hny to martine and asked her where she was from and voila !! je m'appelle hareesh. je suis indien. je suis en vacances.....and on and on for another two hours - my longest conversation in french so far. martine was pleased with my french (or at least my attempt at it) and offered me all her help with the conversation. she spoke perfect english too, but chose to give me my chance. she introduced me to her daughter who definitely preferred french to english, much to my happiness. accompanied by coffee and tuna sandwich, i had a ball. it was not a matter of care that i had not brushed until then (nor did i brush on 1/1/2005!). one of my friends says lions and tigers dont brush, why should you then...?? LOL after the lazy breakfast, a and c went to relax on the beach and a wanted a swim too. b and me wanted to get a massage and went out on the search, after fixing a time to meet with our friends at the same restaurant for lunch. by this time deepak the steward had become our best man. he was so sweet and helpful that we had no doubt whom to turn to for any need in palolem. it is also important to say that everyone we found in goa had deepak's attitude - cool, ready-to-help and happy. an hour of walk all over the beach exploring every possible center and we found this ayurvedic massage center which offered facilities for a medicinal bath after the massage too, at a welcome rate. yaay we went to the massage....a proper one (as much as i could gather) for an hour during which we had slept off. the medicinal bath was like an added advantage. by then we were convinced that we had come to paradise (and so were everyone else there, i bet). 3pm and its time to leave. wine at the lunch table and four of us around it. hardly able to think of leaving, b says - i dont wanna leave. a says, stay then. looking at everyone, i wait for a few seconds and say yes! we stay!! (a and c had to leave in the car that evening, but b and I could stay another day if we were ready to dare the journey by local transport. heck, thats a small price to pay for one more day in paradise!) so that was it - a and c got fresh after finishing lunch, while we went around palolem asking every travel agent about reservations back to bangalore the next evening - none. there was this sweet gentleman in a travel agency who took the time and told us every method to exit goa - right from the train numbers and timings to connecting bus stations. we decided to take the chance - the aim being to get back to bangalore on the 3rd morning somehow. by 6pm our friends had left and we were back on the beach. the task now was to find accommodation. deepak, our great friend at the sunset bar and restaurant was with us. we got acco in a tree house (at least a log house propped high up) at a cheap rate, and voila! we were giving each other this contented smile. yes, we have another day in goa - so what do we do? b says: what but get back to deepak, get the beer and enjoy life. well, thats exactly what we did next. another full two hours on the beach listening to the waves, watching the babes and talking to the stars. 100% relaxation is what it was, to sum it up for you. we walked the length of the beach in both directions twice. the new year resolution was to follow my heart and follow it i did, one the very first day of the year. my heart said stay, and i stayed another day. deepak had become our great ally by then and had stored the cake which a and c had left for us. dinner at sunset again and this time it was wine and brandy (mixed with hot water, for the cold LOL). we shared the new year cake with every patron and staff at the restaurant and made that way made friends with the owner too. well, everyones good if youre good to them. it was midnight by the time we retired to our log house above ground level. it was complete with rugs, a huge mosquito net, blankets and pillows. a small balcony with two chairs and a teepoy was there outside too. what more to ask for at the peak season? the sleep was peaceful, what with the sound of the waves singing a sweet lullaby with the wind for accompaniment. good night, sweet dreams....
i woke up on the second day of the year drinking the "bed-beer". spoil yourself! today was the day to leave goa, but that was the last thing on our minds. after freshening up in the good common facility attached to the huts, we went to the sunset for breakfast, where we were joined by jeanne and her mother. this time we took pictures too and i was sad i had not learnt swimming when they asked me about it. another day....dude! we had a nice chit chat and then we had to plan for the rest of the day. b wanted to try a ride in one of the fishermen's boats which were odd-shaped. they had this u-like extension from one side of the boat which was composed of three logs which they said was for balance. it was quite interesting though. deepak to the rescue again and we had a deal. we go out into the sea (god forbid we die in the tides) to maybe get a glimpse of dolphins. but we had an hour before this when we decided to try for the "lady's massage" which one of the shopkeepers had tempted us by talking about. we roamed around the entire beach in search of the holy grail, but no. the service of a masseuse is there only for women - this is what we found out after shameless queries! well, better luck next time and we headed for the boat. off we were at 10:30 am out into the sea to see the dolphins (god willing, as the two fisher men said). the motorised boat moved at a decent speed carrying the four of us around a couple of small islands and other rock formations among which one called the butterfly beach was really very beautiful. aptly called so, it was the smallest beach ive seen and it was a thin strip of sand in between two huge rocks. people got dropped off there and relaxed for a long time. the sea was rough then though, and the fishermen told us that we were probably out of luck in seeing dolphins. they then offered to take us further into the open sea to try our luck. it was at this time when a strange thing happened - the engine stopped! for some odd reason it stopped, and wouldnt start again even after the guys tried for full fifteen minutes. for the first time both of us who neither knew to row or swim, got the feeling of being completely left to the mercy of the sea. huge waves hitting against the boat actually scared us a lot and we tried our best to stay quiet and composed, though the fishermen seemed to sense our discomfort. when the boat began to sway violently, the guys decided to row and setup the oars. for quite some time it appeared to us as if we were headed in the direction opposite to the shore and that the oars were having no effect. both of us decided to keep quiet though and see what followed. the biggest irony was that b's cell phone that refused to work the last two days began to work in the middle of the ocean then! he called his babe (or one of them) from there and his brother too. no wonder his brother went on a scolding spree, angered at what we were doing in a boat in the middle of the ocean whose engine was out of order. this however, lightened the situation and kind of diluted our fears. laughter in the face of death, aint it? after about an hour of frantic rowing, we finally saw the shore and were relieved. we thanked the fishermen as we reached the shore. the guy who saw us off in the boat was eagerly waiting for our return and apparently we had raised considerable attention in the beach. this was one experience we wouldnt forget. oh yes, we did help the fishermen earlier to get the boat out into the sea and now back to the shore - they have this interesting method of sliding the boat over planks (it is a huge boat at that) laid out one after the other on the sand. a ride which was supposed to take an hour took more than two-and-half. but we were like, an experience worth much more had been got. we checked out quickly from the log house (the boat story convinced the manager and we were excused for the delay) and got back to sunset for the lunch. more wine, scrambled egg with masala (called egg bhurji in india) and some gobi manchurian was lunch. i cannot but forget to mention the sweetness of the swedish senior citizen (he was holidaying with his family) who offered to take our snaps - he came and told us that he would do it for us, seeing our efforts to get the snaps on the beach benches. another snap with deepak and the owner of the restaurant. adieu, and by 2 pm we hugged deepak bye and left to the canacona railway station (extremely contented and vowing to come back) to catch the train at 3.00 pm. it arrived by 3:30 pm and we reached mangalore by 9:30 pm. an old gentleman whom we asked about the local bus station was sweet enough to accompany us till there, get us the tickets and show us the bus that late in the night. we thanked him and god for teaching us that people were really, really nice. after a long bumpy ride of about eight hours, we reached bangalore at 7 am on the third morning, me still in my sarong and t-shirt and b in his beach dress of shorts and t-shirt. goa wouldnt just leave us....we will go again!!!
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